r/exchabad

Chabad does a lot of great work, obviously, but I want to talk about something controversial. Not the Moshiach stuff.

So what I have noticed after years of traveling and relying on them is that they kind of push out local Jewish communities…

Almost all their shluchim are from the United States or Israel, and they go to many places where there are already small Jewish communities, such as Athens, Amsterdam, İstanbul, etc. Once there, they essentially steal all the attention that those native communities would otherwise get from visiting Jews and donors, thus pushing out the local communities there and giving their own very standardised type of Judaism. It eliminates cultural and linguistic diversity among Jewish communities around the world.

They also do go to far-flung places were there are no Jewish communities, such as Cambodia, Korea, etc., which is fine by me, but I’m more upset about them undermining pre-existing communities, especially in Europe.

But even in those other "exotic" places (like China, Kenya, etc), they essentially monopolise everything and there are/were indeed indigenous Jewish communities in many of them, so work should be done on revitalising those communities instead of promoting this Walmart Ashkenormative style Judaism. It is literally like Walmart or McDonald’s coming in and standardising shopping or food.

As an example, I was in Athens (Greece) for Pesach once. They have a real Greek shul, from before WWII, still active, with Greek-style davening (Romaniote). It’s Orthodox.

For Yom Tov, they had 12 people, including me (I went).

The Chabad had over 300 (the rest of my family was there).

So, the Greek synagogue in Greece is dying, and meanwhile the American-Israeli synagogue in Greece is pulling in everyone + all their money. Btw the Greek shul had food and a kiddish too, and I was invited to people’s homes, real Greek Jews. Just like how it used to be.

There are lots of old, beautiful, ancient Jewish traditions that are just being wiped out because of this.

It was also the same in Amsterdam. I actually barely made the minyan at the old Portugees-Israëlietische Synagoge ("Esnoga") shul. My friends went to Chabad with over 100+ people. This wasn’t even during a holiday, normal Shabbos.

In conclusion, I very much view Chabad like McDonald’s: safe, standard, easy, familiar, you know what you’re gonna get. But erases local history and tradition, and fast.

If so, can you point to a case that’s proves this? Thanks

Look at article and Flatbush girl story and let
Me know your thoughts

Does anyone else find that while being accepting of them- some bts are a bit envious of ffbs in the community? Envious of yeshiva education and knowledge as well as social status. Tia!

I’ve noticed a massive double standard in the OTD world.

When people leave Satmar, Belz, or Ger, they usually wash their hands of the whole thing. They leave the Rebbe behind and never look back. But in the Ex-Chabad community, it’s the opposite. People stop keeping mitzvos, they move on with their lives, yet they still talk about the Rebbe like he’s a "tzadik" or a "grandfather figure."

Why do we hold onto this one specific attachment when everyone else cuts ties?

Is it because Chabad’s "love every Jew" branding is such a successful PR move that even those who leave are still sold on it? Or is there something more cult-like about the emotional grip the Rebbe has on us compared to other Hasidic leaders?

I’m curious if anyone else finds this weird. Why do we still feel that "love" for him while other Ex-Hasidim feel nothing but indifference or resentment toward their former leadership? Are we actually "out," or are we just practicing a different version of the same devotion?